Print edition: 
TOPEKA – The Senate Judiciary Committee eliminated provisions from a measure on Wednesday that would have allowed couples to agree to work harder to stay married.
Couples agreeing to the optional “covenant marriages” would go through premarital counseling and could only be ended for specific reasons or after a legal separation.
The marriage would also cost an additional $25 and could be dissolved after an infidelity or in cases where one partner is convicted of domestic violence or a serious crime.
The extra steps wouldn’t be optional.
In committee, Sen. John Vratil, R-Leawood, called the idea a “step backwards” for Kansas family law. Thirty years ago, the Kansas moved to a no-fault divorce state and covenant marriages would be a return to the old style of divorces, he said.
“If we go back to a fault based divorce, it would increase the acrimony between parents and it would do damage to the children because it pits on parent against another,” he said.
Vratil, an attorney, proposed eliminating the covenant marriage option, couples could still establish the same guidelines through a pre-nuptial agreement.
Sen. Mary Pilcher Cook, R-Shawnee, who voted against the amendment, said that covenant marriages could help combat the divorce rate.
“No fault divorce has been very destructive and it is heavily in favor of one of the partners in the marriage who has done the most extensive damage in the marriage and the children,” she said. “It is only fair to allow people to have the option to make the decision for their own minds.”
The amendment passed with Pilcher Cook and Sen. Les Donovan, R-Wichita voting against it. The remainder of House Bill 2667, which would re-codify laws dealing with domestic relations passed out of the committee to the full Senate.
